Most cutthroat groups on the street
I’ve always heard of Wall Street as a cutthroat place. I’m curious how this plays out in the workplace. Which groups are known for being the most cutthroat?
Jefferies Houston
Why is this funny? Feeling stupid rn lol
Been mostly covered up (obv a bad look) but this office is infamous for an analyst snapping and literally murdering a VP by slitting his throat.
I remember when I was recruiting, one of the associates told me he chose Jefferies for dealflow over culture.
He said with a smirk that it didn't matter to him if he doesn't like his co-workers and that friction exists anywhere you go. Huge red flag for me that signaled toxic work culture.
Used to work JEF houston.
Name another place where first year analysts made close to half $1mm and associates $1mm.... that’s all you really need to know. Ya those people worked for that money and ya it was not a jolly good time, but I’ve never heard of anyone making that dough at a bank.
Those are real numbers. JEF used to have an edge (2010-2015) when it had the best / only good technical O&G team and relationships with every PE sponsor, sold every private Co in Permian. JEF really did control that market and still largely does even though its dead. Paid its employees very well until very recently. Lot has changed there but still exceptionally smart people and culture of working hard and producing the best materials will stick.
The current problem in O&G largely created by JEF to begin with because JEF sold all the assets with juiced engineering parameters and that became industry trend until it was time to go cash flow positive and everyone’s cost basis was too high.
Industry was toast before corona virus and now it’s clear the emperor has no clothes.
But for close to a decade it was really like that. Part of me misses it.
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I don't buy the comp numbers, they're too far above market. There is no rational incentivefor JEF to offer analysts half a million for first year - you're not getting an extra quarter of a mil worth of PPT and Excel skill. Junior employees don't have a multidimensional-enough value proposition to command that kind of comp. Senior folks maybe, but banks aren't paying high salaries out of the goodness of their hearts. They're paying X because it's the minimum required to get top bucket talent, and that figure is less than half of what you're citing for a first year. They might throw a few extra ten thousand on street comp just to make a point about being the highest comp, but not a couple hundred thousand.
This. Especially at the senior level RX can get intense. First of all, clients are a lot less happy. No company wants to be working with you. As opposed to M&A where the deal ends with a win, RX ends with almost every party losing something and it’s a zero sum game. Theres also the potential for liability. Sr people can get deposed to testify about valuations or liquidation numbers etc and you have to be able to justify everything. Even at the junior level people seem to fall in one of two buckets - either more nerdy or cutthroat
Not exactly cuthroat, but MS London broadly overworks their analysts compared to other firms.
I hear MS Menlo is a little snake-y
You can see em slithering all the way from Page Mill Rd
JPM FIG - I heard there's tons of pitching, long hours, and no deals get done. Can be a frustrating experience for someone trying to work on live deals.
BMO metals and mining.
pray tell
Worked in that group about five years ago. Terribly demoralizing and toxic culture. There was this one Analyst that would leave sticky notes with rape threats in the desks for new joiners.
LOL WTF!
Moelis Houston
Moelis Houston is not Moelis NY; had nothing but pleasant interactions with the Houston Moelis folks; solid culture. Smart group but not pompous and pretentious.
On the other hand, my interations with people at Citi, WF, TPH, Scotia, GH, Gugg, GS...not so pleasant.
Every group at Moelis except HR.
Edit: correction, HR cuts throats too.
working for Karen in compliance
haha. I had to look it up to learn what Karen means
For those who were as clueless as me:
Karen: a white middle-aged woman, typically American, who displays aggressive behavior when she is obstructed from getting her way; such women are often depicted as demanding to "speak to the manager" and having a variation of the bob cut
GS Houston was soul crushing a few years ago. Not sure if things have changed.
CS sponsors and levfin & restructuring are known for having great cultures. Sponsors hours are amazing relative to other banking groups and they take no face-time very seriously. Heard it can be kinda douchey sometimes lol
LevFin & restructuring also pushes no face-time but it’s harder to limit hours because the group is run leaner than sponsors. Friend says the group is all very tight and humble (even seniors).
Have heard m&a culture at CS is not great. Comes down from senior management who take themselves too seriously and don’t care about juniors
Justine Tobin will SIT on your ERECT COCK for a signed ENGAGEMENT LETTER
Lots of hours doesn’t mean a group is cutthroat, just that it’s a sweatshop. I personally haven’t seen real cutthroatness at the junior level—the camaraderie at the junior level in IB is real. People get cutthroat when there’s not enough money to go around—really comes into play at VP level and higher.
Have seen this in my own group (large BB cap markets group) which is ridiculously top heavy. MDs hide pitches from each other, newly promoted or lateral VPs/EDs get pushed out of deals/coverage teams or are forced to work on low revenue deals, etc. There’s very little grooming of the next generation because they are seen as competition—there’s a high chance that either them or the MD leaves for another firm, so why would the MD let the VP build a client relationship and take away his value add? Meanwhile there’s always the lurking feeling that people are about to get fired—the salary as a % of revenue just doesn’t make sense.
All of this creates a pretty toxic culture and bad hours (senior bankers are pitching for everything under the sun), but those are just side effects of the cutthroatness.
GS TMT - The snakiest motherfuckers I've ever met
MS Menlo - On par with the above. Definition of smooth talkers who are backstabby
BAML HC - Pull your pants down and pitch
Moelis HC - Pull your pants down and make CIMs
PWP (Chicago) - Kind of funny there's a post that mentions these guys. The entire Chicago banking scene knows this group
Blink twice if you're being held hostage
Murders & Executions at Pierce and Pierce.